TYCL — Typed Config Language

go get github.com/pt-main/tycl

TYCL is a typed configuration language for Go.
It provides strong typing, contracts (schemas), and a readable syntax — with no code generation and no interface{}.

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Why TYCL?

Format	Problems	TYCL solves
JSON	no comments, everything via interface{}, no validation	strong typing, comments, contracts
YAML	whitespace‑sensitive, no typing	explicit types, deterministic parsing
TOML	limited, no schemas	contracts, flexible structures

TYCL gives you 70% of the power of complex config languages at 30% of the complexity.
It works both as a primary configuration format and as an intermediate representation — you can write TYCL and then generate JSON, YAML, or TOML for integration with other systems.

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Installation

As a library (Go module)

go get github.com/pt-main/tycl

Use it in your code:

import "github.com/pt-main/tycl"

cfg, err := tycl.Process(`{ port: int = 8080 }`, `strict { port: int }`)
if err != nil {
    log.Fatal(err)
}
port := cfg.IntV["port"] // 8080

CLI (command‑line tool)

Download a binary from the releases page, or install via go install:

go install github.com/pt-main/tycl/tycl@latest

Commands:

• tycl valid <config> [contract] — validate a config against a contract.
• tycl syntax <file...> — check syntax and types (without a contract).
• tycl fmt <type> <file...> — format (conf / contract).
• tycl gen <input> <output> <json|yaml|toml> — generate a target format.
• tycl contract <input> <output> <type> — generate a contract from a config (strict, flexible, dynamic).

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Syntax

TYCL is close to JSON, but every field has an explicit type.

Basic types

port: int = 8080
rate: float = 1.5
debug: bool = true
host: string = "localhost"

Null values

TYCL allows you to specify that a field exists but its value is absent, while the field type is known:

timeout: int = null   /* field timeout exists but is null, type int */

Rules for null:

1. Type is mandatory — null always comes with a type (int, string, etc.).
2. Uniqueness of null — there can be only one null value for a given name.
   If you declare timeout: int = null, you cannot add timeout: string = null, but you can add timeout: string = "5s" (not null).
3. Null ≠ missing field — key: int = null means the field exists but its value is not set. If the field is not mentioned in the config at all, it is simply absent (and the contract will notice that).

Arrays

Arrays are strictly typed and denoted by the type in plural form. The array type is mandatory:

ports: ints = [8080, 8081]
names: strings = ["dev", "prod"]
rates: floats = [1.1, 2.2]
flags: bools = [true, false]
servers: objects = [
    { host: string = "a", port: int = 80 },
    { host: string = "b", port: int = 443 }
]

All elements of an array must have the same type.

Objects (nested)

server: object = {
    host: string = "127.0.0.1"
    port: int = 8080
    timeout: int = null
}

Objects can be nested arbitrarily:

app: object = {
    name: string = "myapp"
    database: object = {
        host: string = "localhost"
        port: int = 5432
    }
}

Comments

Only block comments /* ... */ are supported, and they may be placed only at the beginning or at the end of a block (object or array). This makes comments act as documentation for the block.

/* This object describes the server */
server: object = {
    host: string = "127.0.0.1"
    port: int = 8080
} /* End of server description */

Line comments (//) are not supported.

Important rules

1. Types in keys are optional
   If the type is omitted, it is inferred from the value:
   key = "text" → string, key = 42 → int.
   Exception: for arrays the type is mandatory (ints, strings, etc.).

2. Duplicate keys with different types
   Allowed, but not recommended, because when generating JSON/YAML/TOML, a conflict will cause an error.
   Example:

   port: int = 8080
   port: string = "8080"   /* allowed, but bad practice */
   

3. Null
   There can be only one key with a given name if it equals null (regardless of type).

   timeout: int = null     /* ok */
   timeout: string = null  /* error: null already exists for timeout */
   timeout: string = "5s"  /* ok, this is not null */
   

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Config structure (after parsing)

The tycl.Process function returns a *Config object that contains separate maps for each data type. This lets you access values without type assertions:

type Config struct {
    IntV    map[string]int
    FloatV  map[string]float64
    BoolV   map[string]bool
    StringV map[string]string
    NullV   map[string]string   // key → type of null value

    IntArrV    map[string][]int
    FloatArrV  map[string][]float64
    BoolArrV   map[string][]bool
    StringArrV map[string][]string

    InnerV    map[string]*Config       // objects
    InnerArrV map[string][]*Config     // arrays of objects
}

Example access:

cfg, _ := tycl.Process(`{ port: int = 8080, host: string = "localhost" }`, "")
port := cfg.IntV["port"]       // 8080 (int)
host := cfg.StringV["host"]    // "localhost" (string)

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Generating other formats from Go

The generation package allows exporting a *Config to JSON, YAML, TOML, and back to TYCL:

import "github.com/pt-main/tycl/generation"

jsonStr, err := generation.Json(cfg)
yamlStr, err := generation.Yaml(cfg)
tomlStr, err := generation.Toml(cfg)
tyclStr, err := generation.Tycl(cfg)   // back to TYCL

This is useful when you load a config, modify it in code, and want to save it in another format.

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Contracts (schemas)

A contract describes the expected structure of a config. It is written in the same language, but instead of values, only types are given.

strict {
    port: int
    host: string
    debug: bool
    timeout: int
    ports: ints
    server: object = strict {
        host: string
        port: int
    }
}

Strictness levels:

• dynamic — no validation (any structure allowed).
• flexible — all listed fields must be present, extra fields are allowed.
• strict — exact match (no extra fields allowed).

Contracts support nesting for objects and arrays of objects:

test1: objects = flexible {
    key: string
}

This means that every element of the test1 array must be an object with a key field of type string.

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Generating other formats via CLI

The CLI tool allows exporting a config to JSON, YAML, or TOML without writing any code:

tycl gen config.tycl out.json json
tycl gen config.tycl out.yaml yaml
tycl gen config.tycl out.toml toml

This turns TYCL into an intermediate language: you write safe and readable TYCL, then generate files for integration with other systems.

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Generating contracts

TYCL can automatically generate contracts from existing configs:

tycl contract config.tycl contract.tycl strict

This is useful when you already have a config and want to create a schema for validating future changes.

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Integration in Go (full example)

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "log"
    "github.com/pt-main/tycl"
    "github.com/pt-main/tycl/generation"
)

func main() {
    conf := `{
        port: int = 8080
        host: string = "localhost"
        timeout: int = null
        test1: objects = [
            { key: string = "a" },
            { key: string = "b" }
        ]
    }`

    contract := `strict {
        port: int
        host: string
        timeout: int
        test1: objects = flexible {
            key: string
        }
    }`

    cfg, err := tycl.Process(conf, contract)
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatal(err)
    }

    fmt.Println(cfg.IntV["port"])      // 8080
    fmt.Println(cfg.StringV["host"])   // "localhost"

    // Export to JSON
    jsonData, _ := generation.Json(cfg)
    fmt.Println(jsonData)

    // Generate a contract from the config
    cont, _ := generation.ContractFromConfig(cfg, shared.ContractStrict)
    contCode, _ := generation.GenerateContractCode(cont)
    fmt.Println(contCode)
}

If you do not need a contract, pass "" or "dynamic{}" — validation will be skipped.

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Future plans

• VS Code plugin: syntax highlighting, autocompletion, formatting, live contract checking.

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License

Apache 2.0 — see LICENSE for details.

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TYCL — built for convenience, safety, and simplicity. Try it — and you won't want to go back to JSON.